Word.ws English Dictionary

waffle

Syllables: waf·fleUK/ˈwɒf.əl//ˈwɑf.əl/

waffle noun: a flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.

waffle: a flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup
Image: Jrenier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

waffle (plural waffles)

  1. A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.
    • The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.
    • This takeaway counter serves up some of Hong Kong's best eggettes, the egg-shaped waffles beloved by local children and adults alike.2017, Piera Chen, Emily Matchar, Lonely Planet Pocket Hong Kong
  2. (UK) In full potato waffle: a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.
  3. (also, attributive) A concrete slab used in flooring with a gridlike structure of ribs running at right angles to each other on its underside.
    • Both joists and slab are cast in place to form a monolithic unit, integral with the supporting beams and columns. The joists form a characteristic waffle pattern on the underside. Structural design of joist construction: one-way or waffle flat slab […]1970, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, Manual of Standard Practice
    • The most widely used type of waffle construction is the waffle flat slab, in which solid portions around column supports are […] These beams may be produced as projections below the waffle, as shown […]1993, Harry Parker, James Ambrose, Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders
  4. (attributive) A type of fabric woven with a honeycomb texture.

Verb (1)

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

  1. (slang, transitive) To smash (something).
    • The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal.1995, Peter Allen David, The Incredible Hulk: What savage beast
    • These were not the Cowboys who were waffled, 45–14, here at mid-season. They came prepared to play a championship football game, with an ultra-conservative game plan suited to the horrendous turf conditions, and came close to pulling it off …1997, Bill Conlin, Kevin Kerrane (editor), "Batting cleanup, Bill Conlin", page 121

Verb (2)

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

  1. (UK, intransitive) To speak or write evasively or vaguely.
    • He waffled on for much of the earnings call without addressing the fall in share price.
    • Again the answer was "waffled," for this did not say that no air units had been alerted. Only that none had been "identified." Moreover, the reply concerned air "unit[s]" as opposed to "air craft".1970, John Galloway, The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, page 115
  2. (intransitive) Of a bird: to move in a side-to-side motion while descending before landing.
    • The geese waffled as they approached the water.
    Synonyms:
    whiffle
  3. (colloquial, intransitive) Of an aircraft or motor vehicle: to travel in a slow and unhurried manner.
  4. (Scotland, colloquial, intransitive) To be indecisive about something; to dither, to vacillate, to waver.
    • I waffled between going to the deposition and going to the doctor's. Wishing Barbara was there, I decided to call the doctor afterward.2011, Tony Hefner, Between the Fences
    • But as Germany struggles to overcome its post-World War II reluctance to lead on security matters in Europe and set aside its instinct to accommodate rather than confront Russia, Europe’s most pivotal country has waffled in the first crucial test for the new government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.2022 January 25, Katrin Bennhold, “Where Is Germany in the Ukraine Standoff? Its Allies Wonder.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  5. (ambitransitive) Often followed by on: to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point; to ramble.
    • Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ.1976, Tony Hatch, So you want to be in the music business, Everest Books, page 68
    • Before getting down to the nitty gritty of beekeeping, most contributors to BBJ like to waffle on for a bit about the weather, the state of their garden or something equally inconsequential.1984, “Apiary Antics- No.5”, in British bee journal, volumes 112-113, page 68
  6. (transitive) To hold horizontally and rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of ambivalence or vacillation.
    • “[…] You get anything useful on the background checks?” / He waffled his hand. “Nothing like what you brought back, but still some interesting notes.[…]”2007, Michael Koryta, Sorrow’s Anthem, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 146

Noun (2)

waffle (uncountable)

  1. (colloquial) (Often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious.
    • This interesting point seems to get lost a little within a lot of self-important waffle.

Verb (3)

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

  1. (UK, dialectal, intransitive) Of a dog: to bark with a high pitch like a puppy, or in muffled manner.

Noun (3)

waffle (plural waffles)

  1. (UK, dialectal) The high-pitched sound made by a young dog; also, a muffled bark.

waffle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

waffle in Hindi

to speak or write evasively or vaguely
डगमगाना ḍagamgānā
to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
हड़बड़ाना haṛabṛānā

waffle in Tamil

குழிவப்பம்

waffle in Marathi

वेफल, वेफल करण्यासाठी

waffle in Urdu

روغنی نان, ہاتھ ہلانا, بکواس کرنا, بےٹوٹ بولنا
More languagesFewer languages
waffle in Bengali
ওয়াফল, ওয়্যাফল, ওয়াফেল
waffle in Telugu
వాఫ్ఫల్, వాఫ్ఫుల్, వాఫ్ఫిల్
waffle in Malayalam
കഥയില്ലാതെ സംസാരിക്കുക, നീട്ടിവലിച്ചു സംസാരിക്കുക, നിരർത്ഥകമായി ദീർഘനേരം സംസാരിക്കുക, ലക്ഷ്യമില്ലാതെ സംസാരിക്കുക
waffle in Kannada
ವಾಫಲ್
waffle in Punjabi
ਵੈਫਲ, ਵਾਫਲ
waffle in Gujarati
વેફલ, વાફલ, વફલ
waffle in Odia
ୱାଫଲ୍, ୱାଫଲ, ୱାଫଲ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
waffle in Nepali
वेफल, वफल
waffle in Arabic
وَافِل wāfil
waffle in Malay
wafel
waffle in Indonesian
wafel

Examples of waffle in a sentence

  • In one-way (pan joist) and two-way (waffle) joist construction, a similar layout is usually adopted.2008, Edward G. Nawy, Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 9:
  • Then I waffled him and knocked him down.2005, Shawn Michaels, with Aaron Feigenbaum, Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story, page 47:
  • I waffled him cleanly." [...] "He just cold-cocked Frank," said linebacker Bob Pellegrini, whose injury sent Bednarik into the game to play defense.2006, Gordon Forbes, Tales from the Eagles Sideline, updated edition, page 2:
  • He waffled on for a bit; this settled everyone down.2006, Carl Storm, A Mighty Fine Way to Live and Die, Backstrap Ltd, page 8:

All 40 example sentences with waffle

Synonyms of waffle

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of waffle

Forms of waffle

Noun
pluralwaffles
Verb
third-person singular presentwaffles
present participlewaffling
past participlewaffled
pastwaffled

Plural of waffle: waffles

Origin of waffle

The noun is borrowed from Dutch wafel (“waffle; wafer”), from Middle Dutch wafel, wafele, wavel, from Old Dutch *wāvila, from Proto-Germanic *wēbilǭ, *wēbilō, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”) (whence Dutch weven (“to weave”) and English weave; compare, from the same verbal root, German Wabe (“honeycomb”), given that the grid pattern of the traditional Dutch lent and holiday pastry strikingly resembles a honeycomb), and possibly reinforced by German Waffel (“waffle; wafer”). The English word is a doublet of wafer and gauffre. The verb (“to smash”) derives from the manner in which batter is pressed into the shape of a waffle between the two halves of a waffle iron.

The verb is borrowed from Scots waffle (“to waver, flap, flutter”), from waff (“to wag, wave; to flap, flutter”) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix), from Middle Scots waff (“signal; gust of wind; glimpse; a flapping, waving”), from Northern Middle English wafe, waffe, a variant of waven (“to move to and fro, sway; to stray, wander; (figuratively) to follow a weaving course; (figuratively) to vacillate, waver; to move something to and fro, wave”) (whence wave), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to sway; to wander”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”). Regarding sense 5 (“to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point”), compare Old English wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to babble, chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- (“to say”) and/or Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely; to mumble”). The Oxford English Dictionary does not derive the English word waffle from this Old English word. Compare also Dutch wauwelen (“to linger, waffle, jabber, gab, chat”). The noun is derived from the verb.

Possibly from waff (“(dialectal) to bark, woof”) (imitative of a dog’s yelp) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix).

Words formed from waffle

Phrases with waffle

Words that rhyme with waffle

Questions about waffle

What does waffle mean?
Waffle means a flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.
What is waffle in Hindi?
Waffle in Hindi is डगमगाना (ḍagamgānā), हड़बड़ाना (haṛabṛānā). See Waffle meaning in Hindi.
How do you use waffle in a sentence?
In one-way (pan joist) and two-way (waffle) joist construction, a similar layout is usually adopted.
What part of speech is waffle?
Waffle can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce waffle?
Waffle is pronounced /ˈwɒf.əl/ (UK).
What is the plural of waffle?
The plural of waffle is waffles.

Words near waffle in the dictionary

  1. wafery
  2. waff
  3. waffed
  4. Waffen-SS
  5. waffing
  6. waffle
  7. waffle cone
  8. waffle cones
  9. Waffle Day
  10. waffle fries
  11. waffle house

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: waffle (page history and authors); waffle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waffle (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waffle (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); waffle (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waffle (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-waffle.ogg.

Cite this entry: “waffle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/waffle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.